Salima Nile Cruise

Cross to the West Bank to explore three royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, their walls alive with scenes of the afterlife, with optional entry to Tutankhamun or Seti I. Visit the terraced Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and pause at the Colossi of Memnon. After lunch on board the Salima casts off, drifting past green riverbanks and through the Esna Lock toward Edfu. An optional dawn hot-air balloon over Thebes can be arranged. Dinner and overnight while sailing.

A horse-drawn carriage carries you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best-preserved temple of the ancient world, where reliefs recount the falcon god's battle with Seth. Back on board, enjoy lunch as the Salima sails to Kom Ombo. There you tour the rare double temple shared by Sobek the crocodile god and Horus the Elder, study its carved surgical instruments and ancient calendar, then visit the Crocodile Mummification Museum. Dinner and overnight on board as you continue toward Aswan.

Begin in Aswan at the High Dam, the engineering marvel that tamed the Nile and created Lake Nasser. A short motorboat ride brings you to the elegant Philae Temple of Isis on Agilkia Island, relocated stone by stone in the UNESCO rescue. Stop at the Unfinished Obelisk to see ancient quarrying frozen in time. Lunch on board, then a leisurely afternoon with an optional felucca sail or Nubian village visit. Dinner and a final overnight moored in Aswan.

Enjoy a final breakfast on board before disembarking in Aswan. Those who wish can add an early-morning excursion to Abu Simbel, where the colossal rock-cut temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari face the rising sun above Lake Nasser. Our team coordinates your onward transfer to the airport, train station or East Bank hotel, closing your Salima voyage with the same seamless service that began it.

Board the Salima in Aswan before lunch and settle in. Your afternoon tour opens at the High Dam, with sweeping views over Lake Nasser, before a motorboat carries you to the romantic island Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis. Visit the granite quarries and the Unfinished Obelisk to glimpse how the pharaohs carved their monuments. Return for dinner and an overnight moored in Aswan as your river journey north begins.

Early risers can join the optional dawn excursion to Abu Simbel to stand before the towering temples of Ramses II and Nefertari. Later, tour the symmetrical double Temple of Kom Ombo, shared by Sobek and Horus the Elder, with its famous medical reliefs and a small museum of mummified crocodiles. Back aboard the Salima, dinner is served as the cruise sails on toward Edfu. Overnight on board.

A horse-drawn carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, among the most complete temples in Egypt. Return to the Salima for lunch as she sails to Luxor. In the late afternoon explore the colossal Karnak Temple Complex dedicated to Amun-Re, then the floodlit Luxor Temple in the heart of the city, walking among giant statues and obelisks as evening falls. Dinner and overnight moored in Luxor.

After breakfast and check-out, head to the West Bank to descend into the painted royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, with optional entry to Tutankhamun's chamber. Admire the cliff-side Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the weathered Colossi of Memnon, twin guardians of a lost mortuary temple. Your guide then escorts you to your onward transfer, rounding off the four-day Salima voyage along the Nile.